Vibratory conveying systems are known in the art. A vibratory drive is connected to the conveying frame or bed in exemplary conventional vibratory conveying systems. Some experimentation has been conducted wherein the vibratory device is connected to a support frame and the support frame is excited or primarily vibrated with the vibration being transferred through springs indirectly to the conveying member or bed. Exemplary conventional systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,876,891, 2,951,581 and 3,380,572, which are incorporated herein by reference.
Newer designs have provided a system wherein the vibration amplitude of the excited frame approaches zero while the conveyor bed or member is vibrated at its natural frequency of maximum amplitude. The generally recognized advantages of such systems over conventional direct vibratory conveyors are that it is possible under some conditions to transfer less vibration into the floor or ceiling supports and to provide a conveyor that is considerably less massive than direct drive vibrating systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,535, incorporated herein by reference, teaches an improved excited frame vibratory conveying apparatus for moving particulate material. Plural supports or springs space a conveyor member from the excited frame. The device of the '535 patent teaches a vibratory drive means mounted to an elongated conveying frame for vibrating the elongated conveying frame in an intended direction for conveying particulate material. The drive means produces a vibratory motion along a linear line of force. The device of the '535 patent provides a configuration for operation over a relatively large range of loads without any appreciable vibration of the excited frame.
Such systems are preferably configured for use with various types of particulate material. For example, one conveying apparatus can be configured to convey one type of material in one application and another similar conveying apparatus can be configured to convey another material in another application. It may be desired to vary the amount of vibration of the conveyor member corresponding to the type of particulate matter being conveyed. In particular, it may be necessary to increase or decrease the amplitude of vibration of the conveyor member corresponding to a particular application.
While the effectiveness of such systems to convey particulate material has been clearly demonstrated, there may exist a desire for some applications to separate or sort the particulate material or articles. For example, the articles may comprise desirable as well as undesirable product. Accordingly, in some applications it may be preferable to separate the material for further processing or packaging. Thus, there exists a need to provide a system which can be utilized to effectively sort the material or articles to facilitate processing and overall production.